By Pastor Don Schatz

Noise Canceling

“And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.”   
Colossians 2:13–14 New Revised Standard Version

‘The Cross and Owl’ sounds like the name of a British pub, right?  An owl is a silent bird of prey.  Owl’s come in various sizes.  Their feathers are arranged so that when they glide, they are silent.  I was once at a birds of prey show at the Wild Animal Park near Escondido, California.  A handler released an large owl at the top of the amphitheater in which we were seated.  Everyone was watching the presenter below, in front of the stands.  I did not hear the owl at all.  But its one wing tip brushed my hair as it glided by, completely silent.

In the Old Testament, owls are typically mentioned with vultures.  In the Psalms, the couple times owls are mentioned, they are pictured as lonely birds in the wilderness.  The Psalmists use them as a simile for their own loneliness.  I bought the owl to scare away flickers.  It didn’t work.  So now it is yard art.

Jesus, crucified on Calvary, was surrounded by the noise of jeers and sneers from he crowd, and from at least one fellow crucified.  Except for seven brief statements recorded in the Gospels, he was ‘silent, like a lamb led to slaughter.’  Yet, the still, small voice that uttered, “It is finished,” spoke for those noisy folks, and for us who can talk too much and not listen enough to the Lord speak in the Word.  Our Savior erased the record of our noisy, or stealthy, sin and that record was nailed to the cross with him, in him.  He was both the record and the sin.  For us.

So I have a cross as yard art as well.  The owl didn’t scare anything.  The cross reminds me that Jesus never would want to scare away anyone.  He is wants you to come, and he will give you a hug.  Need a hug from Jesus today?

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado